Thursday, December 16, 2010

The buzz for the past week in Cleveland has been about the sudden retirement of Dr. Eugene Sanders, whom is the CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. At first he tried to play it off as if he was actually retiring from working to be some "sunday school teacher", but we soon got conformation that he has decided to "take his 'talents' (what ever those are) to Bowling Green State University".
Ugh! For those who do not live in Cleveland, you don't know how bad the public school system is. I am thankful that my mother kept me out of that school system, but it needs a looooootttttt of work done to it!
A couple years ago, I was actually delighted and optimistic about the appointment of Dr. Sanders. He was actually doing a pretty good job as he implemented dress codes for the public schools, but recently he had taken a lot of heat for his transformation plan. Now this plan involved the closing of some failing schools, and those students would have to attend another one of the other horrid public schools. This plan was suppose to help boast up the overall score of the Cleveland Schools, but I don't see anything different. Shoot, the only difference is that there are a lot more kids at Glenville and East Tech than usual.
Over the weekend I was shocked to see that he has decided to retire just out of nowhere when his transformation plan was just getting off the ground and it's the middle of the school year! ,but my first suspicions were that he had found another job. When questioned about his intentions though, he denied looking for another job saying that he was just going to be a sunday school teacher at his church, but it was soon learned that he was 1 of 25 in the running to be the new president of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. (I feel bad for that school if they give him the job.)
He's been all over the news here in Cleveland, and a lot of people are really angry toward his decision, including me! I mean, Cleveland schools are so horrible it's no wonder why so many youth are getting into the wrong things! We need a CEO that truly cares about the future of the youth and will do anything in his/her power to fix our schools so we can see more inner city students going to college! I mean, we're really on the verge of being as bad as Detroit! But, in a way, this is a good thing because this will give someone more capable a chance to fix this dreadful school system, but it's bad how he just left to take another job when there is so much that needs to be done right here in Cleveland! It goes to show you his "dedication" to our youth.
So, whatever Sanders! Leave! But you should not be getting paid for the 4 years you had left on your contract, and they would of been a waste anyway!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

I know that I am really late on this one, but no matter how late I am, ignoring the fact that it happened won't help with the prevention. So Blackness is about to spit out some reality.
Here's the story, these punks at the bottom of the picture were at a party about a month ago when these girls got into a fight. While watching, one of them was hit by one of the girls and he instantly grew enraged. So he said (not in the exact wording), "I ain't gon' hit no girl, but I'ma hit the next person I see." Bobby Maurice Tilden happened to be walking by, and he targeted him with his pointless rage. His "homies" joined in on the beating, stumping him to death. Later, the coroner said that Bobby died when he was stumped in the chest and one of his ribs broke and pierced his heart. His beautiful-young heart.
As you can tell from the pictures, the murderers were taken into custody, but all the while, a mother had to make funeral arrangements for her son. Too many times does this happen.

It breaks my heart to have to hear about this because this world is so cold and Black blood soaks the streets of our country, and if we don't do something to stop it, then we won't have a future. We have to admit that Blacks killing one another is nothing new, but it's on the rise in this new generation. I know that I have referred this boy in my Black 2 School blog, but I will do it again, and again one hundred billion times! Derrion Albert should not be in a coffin under Chicago, he should be applying to colleges and getting ready to walk down the aisles of his high school gym in his cap and gown! Derrion Albert's death is the most horrific beating that I had ever witnessed! I mean, I wasn't there, but I saw clips of the edited video on the music video for Raheem Devaughn's song "Bulletproof", I will have a link for that at the bottom of the blog, and I cried for the whole weekend! I even added 15 pages to my book in a whole day! Deaths of young Black teens hit me at the heart and it pulls at the strings because this is not what our Black forefathers wanted. They wanted us to thrive in this "free" land, and stick together when the going gets tough, and that's what we did during the Civil Rights Movement, and during the time of Abolition. What happened to the New "Negro"? The one that had no fear or shame in being of African descent, and was ready to uplift their people?!
We just can't stand by here silent because this will just keep happening! More young Black teens will be going to jail, and others will become victims to these cold times. So, let's make some noise! Write a letter to your mayor or other local official! Maybe even write a letter to your governor. Shoot! Hit up Obama! Let us start a movement to end the violence in the community! While. . .We're Living Like We're Bulletproof!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Okay, obviously, the picture above is a man being checked by a TSA Secuirty officer at an airport, and recently, they have been getting a lot of crap from people who claim that they don't want another September 11th. I personally am afraid of flying, so I can't empathize with these people, but what I can say is "Shut up already!" With the attempted bombing from last Christmas doesn't make you fall in love with the new body scanner, I don't know what will. I mean, having a stranger patting you down in different "sensitive" areas is going to make you feel uncomfortable, then why not do the body scan where there will be nobody touching you at all?! I personally applaud the TSA for thier efforts in keeping us save, and their stance with not changing a thing about how they protect the airways. And if you haven't noticed, there has been no bombings lately.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Recently, there was a vote to abolish the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy that was established in the 1990s by President Bill Clinton. This policy was incorporated to let Gays serve in the military ONLY if they did not disclose their sexual prefernces, and if you did decide to reveal that you were gay then you would be kicked out of the military. Not too long ago the fight against this bill began to get momentum and gain a lot of support, but when the issue was voted upon, they chose to shot it down! Why? Oh, I forgot because their gay!
Seriuosly, I am not gay myself, but if it is your choice to be gay then that's all on you, but how can I sit here and tell you that it's wrong?! I believe that anyone who is willing to sacrifice their lives for our country reguardless of race, sex, and sexuality, should be entitled to the honor of others! So for all those gay men and women who died for our country should be saluted just like the others because they felt they had an obligation to defend America! But isn't it sad how people want to protect the freedoms of a conutry that they themselves can not enjoy?! All of this brings me back to a man, he wasn't gay, but his death was in vain, and that man was Crispus Attucks, a freedman that was the first person to die in the American Revolutionary War, or a war for freedom from Britian. Crispus Attucks was killed during the Boston Massacre, and even though American gained its freedom, African Americans were still being enslaved in the South. Still, he as an African AMERICAN chose to die for the rights he wouldn't of enjoyed even if he did survive that gunshot. So to all my gay brothas and sistahs out there, you are Americans and everyone else has to realize it, and I hate the ignorance is trying to keep you from serving you country-something that every American should be proud to do!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

We know that some states are having elections. I know in Ohio I think we're going to elect a new senator, and next year I think we will be electing a new governor. But I know that I'm already tired of the commercials! UGH! To be completely honest, I don't like Ted Strickland because he doesn't support Charter Schools because he feels we're taking money away from the public schools, but the Cleveland school system is so horrible that Charter schools are definitely the better option. And I bet none of the public schools in my area can say that they have 100% graduation and college acceptance rates!
Anyhow, I don't like John Kasic, or however you spell it because. . .this is going to sound so bias, but he's a republican and I never go for the republican candidates. Plus his commercials are already making me sick of him because they're so, what's the word I'm looking for? Corney! He is talking to a group of working class people, mostly white, and has this phony look on his face as if he is going to really be the best choice for governor. Then the people he's talking too look like they were paid to be there, and really wouldn't listen to him in the first place if he wasn't putting them in his commercials.
The thing is though, in Ohio, the Tea Party has yet to really get anywhere. But I've been watching as they claim victory after victory in other states, and they have Sarah Palin on their side? Now, I really don't know anything about their politics, and I really don't care to know right now because I'm not even old enough to vote, but I do have to tell you what I think about their party from all the things that have been going on with this "new party":
I think that this so called Tea Party is just the Republican party, they just have a different name. So far, the fact the Sarah Palin's dumb-not knowing anything about politics-you know what is now on their party is making me turn away even more because she really doesn't know what she's doing, and she's an airhead. I also don't think that she really thinks before she does something because after that whole incident with the Dr. that said the N-Word, Sarah Palin actually encouraged her to continue with her radio show!
Then there was the whole thing with that guy that wrote that fake letter to Abraham Lincoln about how we Black Folk can not take care of ourselves! I was extra hurt about this because not only am I too an African American, but I am an NAACPer and if you say "NAACP this" or "NAACP that" you're talking about me too. I mean, this guy didn't even apologize for what he did, and I know that the "Tea Party" took the necessary steps by firing him, and then putting their only Black member on TV to clear everything up. The thing is, if this guy was racist, who knows how many others are still in the "Tea Party"? Who knows what these "politicians" are really saying to the masses? I personally am afraid of a rise to this party, but if it does happen, I'm not afraid to fight it like my man Martin Luther King did in the 50s and 60s. So "Tea Party" be very afraid because when I get up there, you will face my social justice! PEACE!

Friday, September 3, 2010

It is too often that Black public schools are some of the worse in the country, and thanks to a book that my cousin refered to me, "Know Thy Self" by Naiam Ak'bar, I think I have to solution to the problem that we face in the urban school systems.
In Cleveland, our urban school system is horrid. Glenville, Shaw, East Tech, etc. are all the big name schools in our area, but they don't seem to me the crown and glory that they once where when it was occupied by a prodominetly white student body. But the greats such as the creators of Super Man attended Glenville, and Jesse Owens graduated from East Tech, but those glory days have been long over. Due to all the violence, and the poverty rates in our area, schools like these just don't do well, and this is a sad fact, but the sad this is, we aren't the worse off. I think that Detroit has the worst public school sytem in the nation with the below 70 percentile in most of the things that Cleveland at least get a decent score for! Again, I accredit this to rising poverty and violence among the young people, and the scariest thing I heard on the Micheal Baisden show was that 70% of all the murders commited last year in the Black communtiy were against honor students, and the most notable is Derrion Albert from Chicago. If you haven't seen the horrific video already, he was just on his way to school and was beaten to death by three gang members just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was just 16 years old, and an honor student! I was so horrified by this that the sun would not shine anymore, and the future of all Black kind seemed so dark. Then when I actually saw apart of the video on Rahiem Davaughn's music video "Bulletproof", I couldn't sleep, and I added 15 pages tomy book in one night! I even cried on my mother's shoulder because I was so shaken by this! But I think that if we had better schools for our fellow brothas and sistahs then they wouldn't be acting so crazy!
Now I think that every prodominately Black school should have a system where they can be more educated by the accomplishments of their people so they know who their going to be, or what their destiny is going to be; with a more afrocentric education, they will really be able to have a better understanding of who there are and where they came from because only then will they know where they're going. I have my mom and my school system to thank for who I am and what I have become because my mother made sure that I hade an understanding of my Black culture. Being a graduate of Glenville herself, she had to research on her own about what she was and because of her inquiry, she helped to open up these doors for me that otherwise wouldn't of been open. Plus I thank her for keeping me out of the public school system; she sent me to a catholic preschool, a muslim kindergarden, and a charty elementary, middle, and high school. But I will give major props to my Muslim school (I'm not Muslim or any religion at that), and my elementary school because they taught me so much more about my African American culture than my high has. The funny thing is though, my elementary school was run by a white man, but he made sure we sung the Negro National anthem at every assembly, we did different activities for Black history month, we got to learn a lot about our African cultures, and there were assmblies dedicated to our history and that's more than any girl can ask for. The one downside to this theory is that not all of the students that were in my class went on the be the person that I am, but I guess that it is a life choice. But when you get a child into knowing what their ancestors were, people such as Salem Poor or Frederick Douglass, and even President Obama, you will get them to open their eyes to the big picture: "That yeah, I can have money like all those rappers, but I can do it a different way." "That gansta way of life isn't all that's out there, maybe I can go to college like W.E.B. Du Bois." "Maybe I can make change happen like Martin Luther King Jr.." I can even be the next President like Obama." This type of exposure will see new hieghts in what an African American can accomplish, and it will also change the perception of what a lot of people expect from a Black person. So I'm hoping that someonw will read this and take the initiative and help our young Brothas and Sistahs see past this crazy mess that a lot of Hip Hop artists have going out so that maybe we will no longer have to suffer at the hands of our own people, and the American government, the one that promised us "Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness."

Recently, we have learned the Troy Davis will not be given a new trial to overturn his death sentence, and this is a huge blow to my heart because as a member of the NAACP, I personally saw the process of getting signatures, and signed a few things myself! But I guess the judge was so angry that the people that were working on the case didn't let the only two witnesses from the case not to recant their testimony didn't ask them to come back, that he decided that he would not give the poor man another trial.

I don't know the specifics on this case, but what I do know is that Troy Davis was sentenced to death over a decade ago for the murder of a white police officer. During the trial, nine witnesses were called to the stand to speak out against him, and not too long before his scheduled execution, seven of them, (yes 7!) took back their statements and blaming the police department for threatening them into testifying! So the NAACP started their own campaign called "I Am Troy" where they sent out petitions to help get Troy Davis an appeal for a new trail, and I was happy to pass the paper around at our annual Youth Leadership Luncheon. Also at the national convention in New York City back in 2009, Troy Davis' very intellegent nephew spoke at one of our luncheons, and I empathized with that little boy so much. But I was over joyed when I learned that Troy Davis was going to get a new trial, but my rejoyce was then cut short when I learned that he would remain on death row.

Now here is my perspective, I believe that without a doubt that Mr. Troy Davis is innocent, and the only reason why he is serving this death sentence was because he is a Black man, and the man that was killed was a White man. Now I'm not saying that all the Black men are innocent when accused of killing a White cop because here in Ohio, a white cop was shot in the head by a Black man who claimed that it was in self defense, but how can you shot a man in the head and say that you were protecting yourself? That's just cold blooded. Then there are the cases that pop up too often where an innocent Black man is cheated by the justice system that was created to protect ALL men. Shoot, I saw a White man who brutally killed a Black person and did unspeakable things to the body and he got off! What type of justice is that?

Before this, I use to believe that anyone who killed someone deserved to get the death penalty, but now I see how often innocent people are sentenced to die for crimes they do not commit, and this happens more so to minorities in my opinion. This heartbreaking reality is the reason why I am no longer a supporter of the death penalty in any part of America, and I hope that one day we will abolish this system of punishment in the justice system of America because Troy Davis should not be awaiting his execution, he should be home with his family like other innocent death row inmates.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Recently, I saw a trailer with that boy that makes these highly popular Youtube videos where he plays this guy named "Fred", and the thing that makes Fred different is that he has a squeaky voice. I personally didn't see the point, but he's become HUGE! He's done cameo appearances on iCarly, a pre-teen Nickelodeon show, he appeared on the Tyra Show, along with other Youtube stars, and now he's getting his own movie on Nickelodeon! I'm proud of him, and I can't hate him for doing his thing, but I'm just angry at how many shows that Black people are left out of, or are very few in. Throughout history, Blacks have not been included in anything in the film industry, unless they were playing stereotypical roles, and now that we have some sort of constitutional amendment backing us up, we still can hardly get any television roles! Shoot, there were more Afrocentric television shows when I was little, or more shows that embraced diversity, but now, you hardly see an African American in the main cast, and if you do, there are only one of them: The Token Negro.
For those of you who don't know about the token Negro, let me tell you what it means: the token Negro is the one Black person they put in a TV show or other media, shows like "90210"and magazines like "Girl's Life", so we can't call them racist. The token Negro also gets less air time in some cases. This happens so often that a lot of us are use to it, but this just makes me so angry! Then there are the shows with absolutely no Blacks at all in the main cast, and it's sad how many Blacks are disappearing out of media today, and sad how it is up to us to make our own TV shows so that we can get a descent more than 20 second appearance on television, and it is up to our magazines to have more than five Black models. And it's funny how White people that do the dumbest things, like this guy, can get their own television shows, movies, endorsements, and camera time, while us Blacks barely ever get more than a few seconds of fame for doing something good. Actually, the only time that Black people really get their chance to shine is when we're about to get arrested. Sad face. I just wished that the younger Black kids could see other girls or boys like them doing something right for a change, but now I guess since the mainstream is not buying, we will have to fend for ourselves here in America.

Friday, August 13, 2010

The N-word is something that is very sensitive to my conscious as it should be to all of us, and this week was a great example of why NO ONE should use it, including Black folk.
Sometime this week, this white Dr., Dr. Laura Schlessinger, took a five minute phone call during her radio show. This phone call was from a Black woman who was calling about her White husband's friends making racist comments. So Dr. Laura wonders why she is even in an interracial relationship when she is so "hypersensitive" to race, and she went on to tell her about how often she hears the N-Word on HBO or from Black comedians as if the woman is suppose to be use to it. Then she decides to use the N-Word several times during the phone call, and when she realized that she messed up, she took herself off the air and issued an apology to the Black community. In that apology letter, she says that since she heard so many Black guys use [the N-Word] it, she thought it was all right for her to use [the N-Word] it! Come on!

The word "Nigga", derives from the word Nigger or Negro and I'd be a Negro before I'd be a "Nigga". I can't stand to hear that word, and I don't even use the word myself because how can anyone take a bad word and try to flip it around to become a good word?! I mean, you don't hear White people calling each other "cracker" or "hunkie" in their music. Actually, I've never seen that in public, unless their making a racial joke about themselves. But I hear the N-Word everyday, whether it be in the music, or someone is bleeping it out from a TV show, or just on the street while I'm riding in the car or sitting outside. Why? Why do we use it? I understand that we have a lot more pride than we did back in the early 20th century, but calling each other a racial slur? I don't get it! I really don't! In my opinion, those stereotypical pictures they drew of Black folks back then is what a "Nigga" is. Yup, a dumb, poor, ill-mannered, sloppy, clumsy Black person is a "Nigga", and to call each other that is just plain unprincipled! But when I do use the word, I separate the N-Words from Black people just like Chris Rock. It's innovative how he separates us saying that Black people do what they gotta do, and N-Words just mess everything up. So true.
Still, I don't condone the use of the word because of the blood shed by so many African Americans when they refused to be called that very word, and the struggle that was needed to get to where it was illegal. Now here we are putting all those marches and lynches in vain because WE chose to call each other that. One of my favorite stories about a Man that stopped using the N-Word was Richard Pryor, and we all know that he used it probably more than anybody we know. Then he took a trip to Africa and realized that the word was wrong to use all along. And this I learned in English last year because we were about to start the book "Huckleberry Finn" and the word "Nigger" was used frequently because it was the 1800s, and thats what we were back then. Our teacher, that I give a lot of props to, made sure that we talked about the power of words before we started the book, and we talked about the word "Bitch" along with the N-Word. He showed use a badly put together video about people's opinion on the word, but it had a great message in the end. And my classmates, notorious for using the word, fell silent knowing that they were indeed wrong, but after they left the classroom, they started using the word again as if it wasn't anything; as if they didn't hear the story about the man's uncle who was killed when he talked back to a white man that called him the N-Word!
This story above with Dr. Laura is another reason why we shouldn't use the word: other races will begin to use it too because they think it's okay! You just don't know how many times I heard the White people at my school with Black friends, use the word! Hispanics too! See, what kind of message are we sending to the masses?! What kind of message are we sending to future generations?! To me, this word holds a lot of disrespect to older generations that fought during the Civil Rights Movement, and we need to BURY THIS WORD FOR GOOD for the sake of our morality, because to me, every time this word is used people forget what morality is.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

This has been a growing situation in our community, some may call it a problem, others may be open to the idea. But all-in-all, a lot of Black women are getting worried that our men will disappear into that white cloud of the Kim Kardashians, and the Hedi Clums; the blonde hair, blue eyed crazy party girls; the well represented girls that take over commercials, and get their own television/reality shows.
Now what I would like to say to my Brothas is that, I personally, do not have a problem with it. . .in some cases. And what I mean by some cases is that it depends on what the reason is for not choosing a Black woman. In the beginning, I had a huge problem with this to the point where I couldn't as much as look at a Black man and a White woman when they were together in public. Then I would play this game with my family saying, "oh, we lost another one." Then it hit me: how can I have a problem with Black men dating White woman when I myself am attracted to White men? So ever since then, I've come to terms with this going on, and had even made friends with a White girl that had a Black boyfriend in my high school. She was really nice, and it was cool because I if you get to know a White girl before you know that she has a Black boyfriend, it really doesn't bother you, well me at least.
Then my Mom received an Essence Magazine in the mail with Reggie Bush on the front cover, and I really didn't think anything of it because after becoming hooked to Keeping Up With the Kardashians, I saw how nice Kim was and really didn't care that her boyfriend was Black. Then the next magazine that came, there was backlash toward Essence for letting him pose for the cover because of his interracial relationship which I thought, and still think, is ridiculous! He's Black isn't he?! And inside there was an article written by an angry Black woman who had her feelings broken when Black men turned her down to be with White or Asian women. That article did nothing but anger me because not all Black men that date outside their race think they way that those men around her did! And I think that she should of seriously took a look at herself before she started blaming these men for her own dating woes! There was one thing that made me look at their intentions a little bit differently: the thought of knowing that the reason why so many Black men are dating White woman are because they think so low of Black woman.
Yup, I've heard some of our Brothas downing us with the tired excuse that we are to demanding or controlling, and that we're this-and-that, attitude problems, all of that stuff. Now, I'll have to admit that there are a lot of Black women out there that fit that description, but not ALL Black women do! I myself am a principled young Black woman that believes that it is up to me to lift up my race, but never am I controlling or demanding. If I am demanding, I only demand that a Man, no matter what race he is, would come along to treat me with the respect and love that I deserve. If I have an attitude problem, it is only because someone has been deserving of my ill-respect because as the saying goes "treat others how you want to be treated". But we can't be at all acting as if we are innocent; acting as if we do or did not stereotype the men that dated outside of their race because not all Black men who date White women think this way. I have a couple family members of my own that have White girlfriends, and these men are some of the most respectful men that you'll ever meet. The girl that I was talking about earlier, her boyfriend was very respectful and we developed a friendship as well. He was so kind and giving that I couldn't of been mad at him at all. They cared for each other (to the extent that a high school love can go) and who are we to tell someone that they can't be with someone that they care for when we, in fact, want that for ourselves? Still. . . it hurts.
Jill Scott brought up something interesting in her article about why it hurts; she said that it was because of our struggle together through history. So true, and this article didn't make me dislike the idea of Black men and White women, but it made me feel less guilty for feeling some hurt when it came to the subject. See, we were brought here to this country by violent means, and have been degraded on our long journey to finally becoming "citizens". We were beat together, we were sexually violated together, we were discriminated against together, and we marched toward equality together. So do Black women have a right to be angry? Of course we do. But do Black women have the right to be angry with a Black man because he chooses to love differently? I choose to love all kinds of races. I'm attracted to Asian guys, Indian guys, British guys, and White guys. But in the end I will always put my Black Brothas before any other because of our history. . .our beautiful history.
Love Ya and always will! Even if you may not love me back!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Right now there is a battle brewing in Arizona about how to contain the amount of illegal immigrants coming into America. This new law, titled S.B. 1070, will make it necessary for law enforcement to investigate anyone one who they feel to be legal immigrants, and if found guilty, they will be transported to a correctional facility. This bill has caused outrage all across America, even in the White House where the government has decided to challenge Arizona's authority to implement such a law. Even the Phoenix Sun's publicly protested this law! Still there are those people that think that this was probably the best way to stop the traffic of illegal immigrants. A man that lives close to the border, I saw him on CNN, he sits behind his house with a gun ready to take justice into his own hands, and cringes at being called a racist.

Doing a little research on demographics dealing with education, crime, etc. etc., you see that the White people are number one in passing standardized tests, attending college, and high literacy levels. Then we all know that Blacks are close to the bottom of the list, and guess what race seems to always be coming in last. . . the Hispanics/Latinos. This may be surprising to many, but it's true. As African Americans, we've had our struggles, struggles that are different from other races, but the one thing we have in common with our fellow Minorities are that WE ARE ALL DISCRIMINATED AGAINST! Whether it be in the media, or just because of our history, we all have to fight the battle of racism, one battle that can not be fought alone.When I first heard about this law, I instantly thought about how it was similar to past laws passed to keep Black folks from making something of themselves. The most notable would be "The Fugitive Slave Act" where anyone helping in the escape, or harboring a fugitive slave would be prosecuted. And those who found the slave would have to turn them back to their owners. Many times this law sent free Blacks into slavery even if they did have papers because as long as you were Black you were not important, and a slave catcher would get more money just sending a Black person to auction rather than to make sure he was free. Those years have long gone, but the fight for freedom for ALL Americans still goes on. Then there were those laws in the 1940s where President Franklin D. Roosevelt put Japanese people within close proximity to a military base into an internment camp. Some people may argue that this was for the safety of the Americans, but the Japanese are people too! It really pulled at my heartstrings when I saw those people leaving their cars to go into these huge guarded barbwire gates; those Americans. So that's why this issue should be close to our hearts.All of us are labeled here in America, and there is nothing we can do because I have to admit that it's in human nature to label someone. The Hispanics are mostly seen as illegal aliens that crossed the border stuffed into small vans and blah blah blah. Forget that! Do you like it when someone assumes that you as a Black person are nothing but a poor uneducated trouble maker? I know I don't like it! See, why can't we give these illegal aliens a chance to make it in America, to become citizens, to get a piece of the American dream? Wasn't this nation founded by people who wanted just that [the American Dream]? There was a man, a man that I look up to so dearly that had once said this: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!" -Martin Luther King Jr. So if we as Blacks sit down and do nothing because the law is primarily aimed toward Hispanics, we are only letting this threat to the justice of ALL people grow and grow and grow. Also, you can't always trust law enforcement to avoid the discrimination of people of color. There have been too many instances where a Black man was falsely accused of a crime, and the main reason why he was found guilty is because there are not too many people that will go against the word of a cop. So how will we know that this won't happen to the Hispanic community of Arizona? I mean, there is reason to have caution toward illegal immigrants, but would anyone ever notice an illegal immigrant without having to investigate them? Furthermore, this means that we as Blacks should step up to help our fellow men that are being oppressed not matter what race they may be. You know, we as an AMERICAN PEOPLE need to work together to make this world a better place for ALL using the very principles that this nation was founded upon: Life, Liberty, and The pursuit of HAPPINESS.Read the Immigration Law Please comment :-)

One day, I was reading through my Mom's Essence Magazine and I always enjoy reading about happenings in the Black community, you know, the things that mainstream media hardly covers. Then I was somehow instantly drawn to the story about a Black candidate that clinched the South Carolina Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. I mean, as I read the article I found myself saying, "right on my brotha!" Because a Black Democrat of anything is always good. Still I knew nothing about this man, but it took less than 2 weeks for me to realize he was making national headlines because no one had heard of him! If you really think about it, this whole situation is like the movie "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington". For those who have never seen this classical 1930s movie, it's about a boy scout hero, played by James Steward, who was voted into the senate with a surprise victory. When he got there he didn't know what he was doing, but his intentions were in the right place. Steward's time in the Senate went from confusing to all out crazy when he was accused of scandal. (And I won't spoil the end for those who have never seen it)
Though I do live in Cleveland, Ohio this South Carolina election has kept me interested because ever since the 2008 presidential election, I found that I have this small interest in politics. Plus I want to pursue a career in journalism which would require me to know about what's going on in the world around me. So, you bet that I've been watching him closely as if I was a South Carolina resident trying to figure out whether or not I should vote for this guy. Still, he is the first African American to be nominated for the U.S. senate by a major party in South Caroline since Reconstruction.
Watching CNN, I got to learn a little bit more about him including the fact that he is an Army Veteran that is now unemployed after receiving an honorable but involuntary discharge in 2009. Knowing that did create some doubt within me, but I wasn't going to judge the guy because he can't help the situation that he's in. So finally, I got to hear his point of view on the issues when he spoke to one of the local NAACP chapters down there. Being an NAACPer myself at my Cleveland chapter, this drew my attention. As I listened further into his speech it seemed as if he doesn't exactly have a plan on how to execute the solutions he has put forth to bring jobs back to South Carolina, or as he said, "moving South Carolina forward". Actually as I watched his speech, I saw his nervousness right away, but I won't hold that against him because I would of probably fainted if I was to have to speak in front of a big crowd of people. He did have good ideas on how to bring jobs back to the state. For instance, I know that he said something about bringing fairness into the justice system, and re-implementing plans that were stopped after September 11th like improving transportation, but he neglected to mention HOW he was going to do these things. Yeah, it just seems as if he kind doesn't have a clear plan right now, but I won't deny the fact that he has good intentions at heart despite what the media is playing at. Plus, he did impress those people at the NAACP conference because a lot of skeptics decided to vote in his favor after the 7 mintue long speech. Who knows, maybe he is just what South Carolina needs, but I need a little more convincing to completely come out and say that I support him.
Please comment :-)